The Seychelles has noted the signing of a Tax Information Exchange Agreement with Guernsey as a significant step in boosting bilateral relations between the two territories.
The agreement was signed at the Seychelles' High Commission in London, by Patrick Pillay, the High Commissioner for the Seychelles to the United Kingdom and Guernsey Chief Minister Lyndon Trott.
The Seychelles' government said the agreement represents the territory's commitment to enforcing the OECD's Peer Review Report of 2010 to expand the nation's network of bilateral agreements with third nations for the exchange of tax information on request, and noted it would further strengthen the territory's appeal as an international financial centre, and attract further foreign direct investment.
Pillay said: “represents an important commitment for the future, that we, as a small island developing state, are willing to make despite all the challenges that we face, in order to achieve significant progress towards better transparency and exchange of information.”
At the signing, Trott reiterated the same sentiments, stating that small jurisdictions need to work slightly harder than bigger economies to be more transparent and in the current economic downturn, the resulting transparency will make smaller jurisdictions be seen not as part of the problem, but as part of the global solution. It was also noted that Guernsey has a well-established financial services sector, which is managed in a transparent manner through information-sharing agreements.
Guernsey is the ninth jurisdiction with which Seychelles has signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
The Seychelles' government said it is its priority to enter into comprehensive conventions for the avoidance of double taxation that also provide tax information sharing, to boost the Seychelles' appeal to international investors. However, the territory said it is open to the conclusion of TIEAs in cases where the co-signatory jurisdiction provides unilateral relief to residents in the absence of a DTA.
The Seychelles has comprehensive DTAs that meet the internationally-agreed standard with Bahrain, Belgium, Mauritius, and with Monaco.
The territory also has OECD model tax information exchange agreements with Netherlands, and the Nordic Group of territories, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
The agreement was signed at the Seychelles' High Commission in London, by Patrick Pillay, the High Commissioner for the Seychelles to the United Kingdom and Guernsey Chief Minister Lyndon Trott.
The Seychelles' government said the agreement represents the territory's commitment to enforcing the OECD's Peer Review Report of 2010 to expand the nation's network of bilateral agreements with third nations for the exchange of tax information on request, and noted it would further strengthen the territory's appeal as an international financial centre, and attract further foreign direct investment.
Pillay said: “represents an important commitment for the future, that we, as a small island developing state, are willing to make despite all the challenges that we face, in order to achieve significant progress towards better transparency and exchange of information.”
At the signing, Trott reiterated the same sentiments, stating that small jurisdictions need to work slightly harder than bigger economies to be more transparent and in the current economic downturn, the resulting transparency will make smaller jurisdictions be seen not as part of the problem, but as part of the global solution. It was also noted that Guernsey has a well-established financial services sector, which is managed in a transparent manner through information-sharing agreements.
Guernsey is the ninth jurisdiction with which Seychelles has signed a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).
The Seychelles' government said it is its priority to enter into comprehensive conventions for the avoidance of double taxation that also provide tax information sharing, to boost the Seychelles' appeal to international investors. However, the territory said it is open to the conclusion of TIEAs in cases where the co-signatory jurisdiction provides unilateral relief to residents in the absence of a DTA.
The Seychelles has comprehensive DTAs that meet the internationally-agreed standard with Bahrain, Belgium, Mauritius, and with Monaco.
The territory also has OECD model tax information exchange agreements with Netherlands, and the Nordic Group of territories, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.
